Missing 3‑Year‑Old From Amber Alert Located

Los Angeles police said a 3-year-old boy who was taken during a carjacking in South Los Angeles was found safe on Tuesday, ending an Amber Alert that had spread across Southern California. The child, Messiah Evans, had been inside a 2006 Saturn Vue when the vehicle was taken late Monday night in the Harvard Park neighborhood. Authorities identified 38-year-old Joshua Pendleton as the suspect and said he was not the boy’s biological father. Gardena police later found the SUV with Pendleton and the child still inside, and said the boy was unhurt. ### How did the child go missing? The Los Angeles Police Department said the case began around 10:30 p.m. on April 13 near West 66th Street and Normandie Avenue. A woman told officers she was sitting in her SUV when Pendleton, identified by police as her ex-boyfriend, approached and forced his way into the driver’s side of the vehicle. KTLA, citing an LAPD spokesperson, reported that the woman got out through the passenger side as Pendleton drove away with the child still inside. (abc7.com) Police said it was unclear whether Pendleton knew the boy was in the SUV when he took it. Messiah was wearing a burgundy onesie when he was last seen, according to the California Highway Patrol alert carried by local outlets. (ktla.com) ### Who was named in the Amber Alert? The California Highway Patrol issued the Amber Alert on behalf of the Los Angeles Police Department early Tuesday. The alert named Messiah Evans, 3, as the missing child and Joshua Pendleton, 38, as the suspect. ABC7 reported that authorities said Pendleton was the mother’s ex-boyfriend and not the child’s father. (ktla.com) NBC Los Angeles reported that the alert was distributed in several Southern California counties. The CHP’s Amber Alert program says the system is used when investigators believe a child 17 or younger is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death and public information could help with a safe recovery. ### Where was the boy found? Gardena police found the SUV on the 1000 block of West El Segundo Boulevard about 12 hours after the abduction, KTLA reported. (abc7.com) The station said Pendleton and Messiah were both inside the vehicle when officers located it. “The child was found safe and uninjured and is being reunited with family. The suspect is currently being interviewed,” Gardena police said in a statement quoted by KTLA. (nbclosangeles.com) NBC Los Angeles also reported that the child and suspect were found Tuesday morning after the alert had been issued. ### What do authorities still not know? ABC7 reported that officials did not immediately say where the child had been found or who he was with when he was recovered. (ktla.com) The station said the Amber Alert was canceled after authorities confirmed the boy had been located. The LAPD had not publicly detailed possible charges in the immediate aftermath. (ktla.com) KTLA reported only that Pendleton was being sought in connection with the carjacking and abduction and was being interviewed after the recovery. ### What happens next in the case? April 14 was the day investigators were still working through the sequence of the carjacking, the abduction and the recovery. (abc7.com) The next public updates in the case were expected to come from the Los Angeles Police Department, which requested the Amber Alert, and from local agencies involved in locating the SUV. (ktla.com)